Welcome, all, to Crimson Purgatory. This is my new fic which, alongside Remnant's Revolution, is one that I have been looking forward to writing. I've got ideas for this, but any DxD nut (HAH! See what I did there? Wait, no, come back!) is welcome to give me any details possible on this Universe as though I know a good amount about the DxD Universe, I'm not foolish enough to think I know everything. Thanks for reading this! And PLEASE REVIEW! I need critics to recommend to me any changes!
"Come on, come on, come on Issei! We have to hurry!" A small girl with chestnut colored hair and violet eyes shouted at a boy following her. Due to her rather diminutive height and her childish appearance any onlooker wouldn't exactly have been hard pressed to tell she could be no older than eight if asked. She had a white shirt on that proudly proclaimed in bold red letters Pikachu, I choose you! Along with that she was dressed in light blue jeans and some bright white slippers that showed off her newly painted red nails.
"I get it, I'm coming!" The boy following her yelled in response, panting slightly at trying to catch up to the girl. He was dressed in a similar shirt to the girl, though rather than just showing Pikachu it displayed a Charizard breathing out flames along with a Blastoise shooting out water from its mouth and a Venusaur that was a lighter color than the other pokemon, most likely showing that it was about to use the light absorbing move Solarbeam, all against a blue background. Rather than jeans and white slippers, the boy was wearing dark blue pair of shorts and black velcro shoes with image of flames at the back that lit up for a few seconds whenever he took a step. He also had light brown and spiky hair and also held a white DS which was covered with a couple of pink stickers in his left hand that he was trying to make sure wouldn't fall from his hand. He looked a similar age to Irina and had light brown eyes.
"Well come faster!"
"I'm coming! Slow down, the game isn't going to disappear in the three minutes it'll take us to get there! It's nearly thirty minutes until the shop open anyways Irina!"
As the two children shouted each other while running towards the nearest video game store two adults jogged behind them, trying to keep up with the ecstatic kids. Or kid, seeing as Irina was the one running ahead while Issei was lagging behind.
"I knew they were excited but damn! You would think that Irina would stop worrying about getting to the shop early when the shop doesn't open for another-" one of the adults checked his black watch before continuing, "forty three minutes! I knew she was excited from her rapid fire descriptions of the new pokemon game coming out but you would think she would calm down once she realized that there were so many games coming that it would be impossible for it to run out before the both of them got a copy." The speaker was a middle aged adult with a light blue buttoned shirt on and, like his son, had a pair of dark blue shorts on along with a pokemon shirt on.
The other adult laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. She even forgot her DS at Issei's house. Sorry about that Godou-san. And thanks for taking Irina for the week I was gone, I had to do a couple of jobs for the church. I know she can be a handful or even a complete terror at times."
Godou laughed along with him. "It's Godou, just Godou. I'm not one for formalities usually and you're a good friend so it doesn't really matter Touji-san. And don't worry about Irina, she was a delight. Didn't want anything for herself not even a bedroom." He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way to his friend. "She slept with Issei the entire time. In the same room. In the same bed. Right next to each other and cuddling the whole time."
He laughed at Touji's expression which was a mixture of shock at the fact, fear for his daughter's chastity, rage at Issei for daring to sleep with his daughter, and rage at Godou for allowing this. This was all tempered by him face palming himself when he remembered they were still only eight, though when his face was revealed again it showed annoyance at Godou laughing so hard that people were looking at him strangely and beginning to walk just a bit faster to get away from him. One woman even crossed the road to make sure that she didn't go anywhere near Godou.
"Mom, why is that man laughing so hard?"
"Just ignore him and don't go near him Timmy. You might catch something."
Touji's left eye started severely twitching. Timmy? Little Timmy? That sounded like a setup to another bad catholic joke of the pope being a pedophile or priest banging choir boys behind some random sheds even though he was sure, he hoped, that it wasn't true. Meh, he was protestant anyways, and pedophilia as a whole was just a sick and fucked up affair. And Timmy? This is fucking Japan, who in the living hell names a kid Timmy? No, never mind that, who the hell in Asia would name somebody Timmy? Especially when, judging from her skin color at least and the fact that the mom had zero foreign accent on her Japanese, they are a resident of said country on said continent? That kid must be bullied brutally in school. No, never mind the stupidity of some humans on this planet, his brain cells wouldn't be able to understand, wouldn't be able to even conceive, the idiocy of some of them. The fool next to him still laughing included.
"Dammit Godou-san." Touji growled, hand still on face. "They're eight."
"I know." He snickered. " But then again, Issei was complaining to me about Irina taking up all the blankets and kicking him out of his own bed in the middle of the night. And even though that happens, he still allows her in the bed because he knows that she'll still get in no matter what he does and the process repeats. Sounds like that they forsook dating and went straight to marriage."
"You're lucky that Izumi didn't hear that." Touji deadpanned. "She'd kick you out of the bedroom till next year."
"Thus proving my point." Godou stated proudly. "Plus why the hell would you think I would state that near my wife? Forget next year, she'll kick me out of the bedroom till the next millenia comes rolling around." He had a pensive look on his face for a moment though. "Hey where did you go anyways? You were gone for a week and only told us to take care of Irina less than an hour beforehand."
Touji hid his wince. He should have known to not bring that up, stupid mistake. Whatever, he'd been trained for this. "You know, the usual baptization," he said, the lie flowing from his mouth easily. "We wouldn't normally leave just for that but it was for a rich person who donates quite a bit to church usually. I was the closest one to the individual so I got called up and told to get there immediately. I wasn't even told until ten minutes before Irina and I came to your house." It was a half truth at best. The client donating to the Church was right but that was because the person was an actual priest who called him up to ask if he could assist in dealing with a fallen angel that was near the city.
Godou didn't seem to believe him. He opened up to ask a couple more questions, which Touji dreaded as he didn't like to lie to him, before Godou was interrupted by the kids.
"Oi, tou-san! Hurry up!"
"You're so slow. More like Jiji than tou-san."
"Oi! I'll have you know we are in the best shape." Touji stated proudly, trying to shift away from the topic that they were speaking about. He then looked to Godou's stick figure frame compared to his own more muscular body. "Well, more like I am."
"Oi!" Godou growled and shoved Touji while Touji laughed. "At least I don't smell like a girl wherever I go!"
"I told you time and time again Godou, rosemary perfume is a standard and necessary part of churchware for priests!" The fact that rosemary was very useful for covering up the smell of blood was another important part, but it wasn't like he was going to tell his friend that.
"C'mon we have to get in line!" Irina and Issei shouted.
"Calm down kids. There's a lot of pokemon games shipping, you don't need to worroooohhhhhhhooolllllyyyy shit!" Touji's exclamation was justified as a ginormous crowd crowd, which he was sure held more people within it than the population of Kuoh itself, was shown to be in front of the shop, most likely for the Pokemon game since nearly all of them had a Pokemon shirt on them.
Due to his shock, he never even noticed a single shadow in the alley near them shift, a small rustle of wings unfolding, and the light of morning dim ever so slightly. Or at least, he never noticed with his main five senses.
"How popular is this damn game anyways?!" Godou half shouted.
"Far more than expected, that's for sure." Touji said, trying to maintain his composure and failing, though for far many more reasons than just the high amount of people in front of the store.
Something didn't feel right. His instincts honed through countless battles with Devils and Fallen alike were screaming at him right now, sweat pouring down his hands as they itched for his sword which he was able to make invisible as long as he didn't use it with a small wind exorcist spell, which did wonders for actually helping the upper-level exorcists to conceal the existence of magic from the unknowing populace.
He scoured the area around him but couldn't find anything that actually looked out of place. He knew he wasn't being paranoid though, his instincts had never let him down before.
Besides, any being that related to the magical world wouldn't start a conflict in the middle of public… right? They couldn't, their own faction would make sure to eliminate them, much less the other two factions, and there were Devils that lived in this town that would to come and eliminate the offender.
Unless his attackers were the devils themselves…
He continued searching the area, desperate for any signs. The two women who were carelessly talking about their respective husbands. The baby crying at his father who was trying desperately to make him be quiet. Hell, even the potted plant near one of the windows of apartments rather near. He tried to search with his magical sense also but nothing stood out to him other than just a slight remnant of magic which was usual for a town owned by devils.
"Oi, Touji are you sick? I mean, I know the stupid amount of people waiting in line is pretty surprising, but it's not that bad." Godou's face appeared in Touji's own while he carefully restricted the twitch of his right hand. As great and surprisingly intellectual his friend could be, the poor man never knew how close he was to dying with his friend's fist shearing through his ribs to rip apart his body.
"Yeah… yeah, don't worry about it Godou. I haven't feeling all that well since my travel, maybe the client had a cold or something and it transferred over." He tried laughing it off but failed miserably, which could be seen as Godou frowned.
His hand twitched again towards Godou, though the man thankfully missed it once again. This time it had to be far more restricted than the previous time whereas before he was about to kill Godou on reflex, this time he was about to kill Godou on purpose.
Something seemed off about his best friend. He couldn't place his finger quite on it though, irritatingly enough. It wasn't another Devil or Fallen Angel or a monster replacing his best friend, he would have noticed that instantly. There were some key factors which nearly all shapeshifters displayed, no matter if they read the mind of their victim beforehand or not. They won't be able to reflect every habit of the person they were replicating, there would always be a slight habit that they themselves have in contrast to the one they are imitating.
The way that Godou seemed to prefer his left leg a bit more than his right even though he was right hand dominant due to how he had received a burn on his lower right calf when he was younger, evident as he always stepped with his left foot before the right and supported his weight a bit more with his left leg like he was now, though it helped that Godou had told him the story. The way that one or two strands of his hair seemed just a bit frayed, evident that he was cooking today, since Izumi was sleeping in today just like every Saturday in the Hyodou household, and turned the heat on a bit too much and leaned a bit too close to the open flame like always. The slight amount of mud on the near bottom of his shoes, just at the edge and overlapping the bottom of the shoe's threshold, showing that he played in the mud yesterday with Issei and Irina, as he had said on the way here laughingly. His stance was completely relaxed and not at all the stance of someone that was used to fighting. Even the way his shoelaces were double knotted rather than the usual single knotted due to the longer than normal shoelaces of his black shoes.
Everything fitted him to a tee. There was no way that this was a shapeshifter.
Then what was off about him?
No, there wasn't anything off about him. Or at the very least, the physical side of Godou.
The exorcist paled a bit more when he realized what was off about his friend. The umbral side of Godou was slightly less defined than it should be at this time of day. Just in case Touji checked his watch. Yeah it was a bit more than half an hour till the shop opens at 9:30. Just in case Touji turned his head to gaze at the sun. It wasn't slightly covered by clouds so it was supposed to shine but the light itself felt a bit more dull.
That only happened if…
If his instincts were yelling at him before, now they felt like the rumbling voice of God Himself telling Touji to not draw out his sword but rather just get out of the way. "Move!" He felt him shout as he grabbed Godou and lunged out of the way of a light spear which had appeared out of nowhere. It stabbed some unfortunate male in the chest before detonating in the middle of the crowd.
For a moment the only sound that was heard was the explosion that took place in the middle of the street, a type of silence which could only be produced by pure shock. The silence was soon eradicated as someone screamed in horror which started a stampede of everyone trying to escape from where the explosion originated. Those that were the farthest from the shop turned around and ran a short distance before finding themselves unable to proceed any further.
'Tch!" He clicked his tongue. "A barrier?!" How the hell did he not sense that? It wasn't powerful at all but it was still enough to trap all normal civilians within the barrier so he should have been able to sense it!
"Irina!" He shouted. She wasn't hurt was she? It wasn't that big of an explosion, just enough to kill maybe ten people in the crowd and she wasn't even near the spear. If even the smallest of scars appeared on her he would murder the literal hell out of the Fallen Angel that was either ballsy or stupid enough to break the treaty in the middle of a public place and in the middle of the fucking day no less. "Issei! Irina!"
Godou looked disoriented by the explosion before screaming to Touji, "What happened?!"
"I don't know!" Touji yelled back. "Let's find Irina and Issei!" Shit! Shit, shit, shit, this was getting worse by the second! Another spear of light seemed to appear from nowhere but this time Touji was able to track its origin before leaping and rolling aside, correctly determining that it was another explosive spear. He frowned a bit. Wasn't that spear slower than the normal speed of light spears, even if it was explosive? He gazed at the water tank nearby where a handsome black haired and violet eyed man stood, clutching another spear and aiming it for him.
He already knew it from the light not being at the usual brightness but he muttered "Damn Fallen Angel," before drawing his sword, which dispelled its invisibility. He swiped the next spear away, this one not exploding on contact but faster than the previous ones.
Godou saw him seemingly drawing the sword from thin air, going pale as the light spear was knocked away and how it dissolved into thin air. "Touji… what?"
Damn it all! No, the first matter was getting everyone out of here so he could kill the fallen angel without any distractions. He started running towards both the Fallen and the Barrier which was blocking the way of the civilians.
"Oh no you don't!" The Fallen shouted before tossing another light spear and diving towards Touji and forcing him to block the attack and waste his time. The Fallen Angel conjured another spear in his hand before flying through the barrier and swinging it at Touji. He blocked it with his sword and lashed out at the surprised Fallen Angel when the spear shattered on contact. The Fallen jerked his head out of the way the blade, paling slightly as it cut off a few snippets of his hair before snarling and leaping back.
"You crazy bastard!" Touji shouted while bringing his sword towards the Fallen in a sharp jab. The Fallen once again conjured a spear and brought it to meet the sword on the side so that even when it shattered it still managed to shift the blade away from him. "This breaks the peace!"
"I don't fucking care Exorcist!" He snarled back. "You screwed up with killing Zatari!"
"Who? No, you know what, I don't care!" He shouted, parrying the spear with that the Fallen conjured up in his left hand. Once again it shattered but this time the fallen unleashed its wings and lept back, floating in the sky only to conjure up a slightly longer spear.
He dived again to face Touji while Touji himself parried the blow. To his surprise, this one spear didn't shatter immediately. He had to strike it four more times for it to actually shatter, only for the Fallen to create another similar weapon.
The dance repeated but slowly Touji could feel himself winning against the Fallen. It was expected after all, no matter the the tricks he had up his sleeve the Fallen was still only a four winged one. Touji had defeated more powerful, the tricks just delayed the inevitable victory. To any onlooker it would seem that they were even in strength but Touji was constantly on the offensive while the Fallen was on the defensive and losing ground.
Apparently the Fallen recognized this too, judging from his scowl. Suddenly his expression changed from a scowl to a bloodlusting smile. "Hey. You have pretty dull hair for a human ya know."
That's not good. "What about it?" He frowned as he destroyed the latest spear, the blade nearly taking an eye out of the Grigori member in front of him.
The Fallen once again barely dodged it and said, "I'm just saying. Unlike your boring and dull hair, some people have excellent and distinctive hair. Something like the hair color of that girl of yours really pops out!"
Touji's eye widened as the Fallen Angel ducked under the latest sword swing and conjured up a spear, this time one of the normal ones. Touji instinctively blocked but it wasn't sent for him. Rather it was sent to the two children that he just noticed was on the other side of the field, led by Godou who apparently tried to grab them and run from the fight. Smart man.
Unfortunately for the Fallen, due to his awkward stance his throw went wide. Not by that much though, only enough to the right to completely miss Irina.
Touji felt a colossal amount of relief when he realized the trajectory of the spear of light missing his daughter, only to have the relief live a short life when he realized it was going to hit the kid next to her. A kid that he knew and thought of as son.
"Issei!" He shouted out with fear, feeling only hatred for the Fallen in front of him when he turned back to dodge one of the latest spears, cutting his face just a tad bit and drawing first blood in the fight.
Issei apparently heard him and turned around, only to freeze in shock and fear when he saw the light spear heading towards him. It closed in, slower than normal due to the weak toss by the Fallen, but still quick enough for him to be unable to shake off his fear and dodge in the dew precious seconds.
"ISSEI!" A voice shouted as an chestnut haired missile crashed into him and pushed him away from the spear. Instead of Issei, the lance struck the intended target in the gut before shearing through the girl and striking the ground and leaving a deep crater before dissipating.
Irina Shidou fell down on the ground, watching as her blood steadily and quickly left her in horror. Tears came to her eyes from the pain. It hurt, it hurt so much! She tried to vocalize her pain only for the lone sound leaving her mouth to be the horrific gurgle of blood as she choked on it. The grass was dyed red with the liquid of life and continued to stretch over the field. Issei seemed to snap out of his shock and ran over to Irina while Godou, after realizing Irina was hit, screamed for a doctor and also rushed to Irina.
The Fallen laughed as the girl he was aiming for pushed the boy out of the way. What good luck! Or at least he thought it was when he looked back to the exorcist he was fighting who was looking at his daughter in an amalgamation of shock, horror, fear, and multiple other emotions.
The Fallen conjured up another spear and ran towards the man, intending to catch him by surprise. The man turned to look at him in the purest form of hatred, his eyes so cold that the Satans themselves would have fled in fear.
"Too late!" The Fallen cackled as the spear neared the man's heart. Rather than block it or try to dodge, the crazy ass bastard tried to grab the spear and bring it downwards, scarring his left hand in third and fourth degree burns, and forced the spear to run through his gut instead.
The exorcist grabbed his wrist and pulled the Fallen forward, driving the spear even deeper into his body.
"Wha-" was the only word the Fallen was able to release before he let out a scream of pain when Touji clamped down on his wrist hard to prevent the Fallen from escaping and drove his sword deep into the bastard that harmed his daughter.
The Fallen angel coughed up a large amount of blood before wrenching his arm out of Touji's grasp and stumbling backwards, even while his spear dissipated into sparks. Both of them were heavily wounded and losing blood steadily, both of them on their deathbeds. The Exorcist having a hole in his gut, though it was cauterized, while the Fallen had a similar wound. Usually any member of the Three Factions could ignore such a wound temporarily and afford to heal themselves later but… "Holy Sword!" The Fallen Angel spat out. There was no walking away from this battle for him. After all, even a scratch of a Holy Sword was lethal to Devils and, while less effective, had somewhat similar effects on the Fallen. He probably had only four to five minutes left to live. Maybe ten at max, though that was being generous.
Hate filled both of the combatants very beings as they focused on each other, every other distraction becoming distant.
The Fallen Angel summoned another spear into his hands, this one longer than normal and littered with cracks all along its length, far more volatile than any of the previous spears. The bombing spear he had used before, trying to insure that the exorcist would go down with him even if he would die. The Exorcist just lifted his sword and they both started to charge.
Both of them trying to ensure that the other would never rise again.
Both of them were distracted by a high pitched scream of pure rage and terror.
Well no, that was incorrect. Neither of them was distracted by the scream itself.
The Exorcist was distracted by the voice sounding far too familiar. The Fallen paid it no mind, far too used to such screams over the centuries he had been alive.
What distracted him was the pure essence of power that had just appeared from the same area of the scream.
Issei was staring at the broken body of his best friend, lying on the ground and bleeding out, still somehow barely conscious. His left hand was the same color of the blood on the grass.
Twice Critical. The most basic of all Sacred Gears
"Iss-ei." Irina managed to choke out. "He-Hel-It- hurts… so mu-!" As if the words were too much to bear, Irina Shidou's body relaxed as she fell into the blissful grace of unconsciousness.
However to any that weren't doctors or had an unnatural amount of medical knowledge, it would seem that the girl had died.
Issei let out another scream of despair and rage and denial, glaring at the Fallen with so much wrath that the Angel that once served Heaven actually stiffened for a split second.
The Twice Critical seemed to morph and contort, bending in on itself even as it grew larger though while still keeping the same color scheme. Scales started covering Issei's arm, originating from his sacred gear, even as a trio of golden spikes popped out, two from the sides and one at the top extending out like claws and all of them burned with a whitish light. The emerald imbedded within split itself apart and moving like pebble in a river to the sides of the Sacred Gear. There they finally locked into place and lighted up, appearing as if they were coiled poisonous snakes ready to lash out and kill, jaws slightly open.
'Coincidentally' they also looked like the thin wings of a streamlined Dragon.
"Boosted Gear...:" Breathed out the Fallen in shock.
"Subspecies!" Whispered Touji in the same exact rapturous voice. There wasn't a single member of the Magical World who didn't know that Sacred Gear, or else they would have been put down years ago for the sake of not contaminating the gene pool.
[Boosted Gear! Boost!]
The Sacred Gear cried out in triumphant glory, raising its head in the proper manner of a proud Dragon.
'Interesting! I wouldn't have expected my awakening for far longer, another decade at the minimum. And a Sub-Species at birth? Truly interesting brat… or should I say Partner.' A voice whispered into the mind of Issei while the boy tensed up. It sounded too real to be dismissed as a figment of imagination, and something within Issei rolled in disgust at the idea of the power to be suddenly flowing throughout his veins to be fake.
"I don't know who you are!" Shouted Issei. "And I don't care! Help me… Help me save Irina!"
'Hoh! Born as a Sub-species not from necessity but from pure rage and willpower! No, it would be far more accurate to say that this wildfire that burns within you is from you seeing this girl living as a necessity in life! Interesting! Truly interesting boy!' The voice within seemed delighted. 'This Sacred Gear was born from the very depths of your emotion at seeing this girl hurt. It won't be a Twilight Healing in any manner but if you truly wish to save this girl then the Sub-Species will assist you in such a manner. But be warned, a supporting based Gear is rarer than any other and a cost will be extracted.'
"I told you, I don't care! As long as I can save Irina I will do anything!" Issei shouted at the device on his arm.
'Well spoken brat!' The voice shouted in agreement.
'Remember this partner!' The voice said. 'All Sacred Gears are driven by emotion and desire! Though training is needed, your will to succeed is what drives everything in your life!'
By my name of Y Ddraig Goch, this Red Dragon of Domination names you the Red Dragon Emperor! Let nothing stop you from claiming your desires! Not even if the world or God Himself stands in your way! Laugh in front of the Infinite and grieve at the Dream! Sink your opponents into Crimson Purgatory and shout out the first step to stealing the principles of Domination from God!'
[Boost!]
'Let your pride annihilate all that stand in opposition to you! Let the power of the Dragon of Domination flow through you! Let your will be carried out! Never be trapped! If you so decide, carry out your decision with no regrets and no hesitation! Give up and you die! Hesitate and you die! Let your blood sing in your eventual fights to the death! Never be broken! Never give up! We shall not die. For I am, We are!'
'THE RED DRAGON EMPEROR!'
[Boost!] [Boost!]
[Transfer!]
All the power left Issei in a rush that made him feel woozy, though it was better than previously where he felt he was about to explode.
Irina's breathing seemed to be a bit more audible and steady though she was still bleeding quite a bit and was extremely pale.
'More is needed Partner!' The voice in him rumbled. 'Do it again!'
Issei nodded tiredly. It didn't matter how much pain he went through as long as Irina was all right!
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
Issei slumped across the ground even as Irina's face regained a bit of color. It seemed that the wound was stitching itself closed, though it was still in the process of healing. The Power came a bit slower than before and it felt far more tiring when it left.
'A couple more Partner!' The voice, Y Ddrrooig Gach was his name if he remembered right though he felt like he didn't, shouted once more. Issei lifted his left hand onto Irina once again, right where the wound was.
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
The speed of the wound healing doubled four more times, in essence exponentially multiplying the recovery. The wound was grave and lethal when it was first dealt but now it was healing over a thousand times faster than it should be, essentially becoming a purple bruise with hundreds of scratches rather than a hole in the stomach. She still needed a blood transfusion but for now Irina was safe.
'Good work Partner. You healed her but I'm afraid I might have found out what your sub-species ability is. Trust me, it's nowhere near good news and it's not even as powerful as my base state.' The voice seemed annoyed at something… but at what?
'Partner I know it seems difficult, as young as you are, but can you stand? We need to get out of the warzone here. Come on, you got this.'
Issei slumped over onto Irina and fell into a deep slumber, even while the voice of the Boosted Gear let out a loud [Cancel!].
'...Well I guess not. Shit, this life might be far shorter than I thought it would be. Albion is going to be insufferable about this. Knowing our shitty luck, he probably got an absolute warmonger for a host who would be enraged at not being able to fight us.'
Godou seemed to be having a nervous breakdown with everything that was happening but his fatherly instincts prevailed and he picked up Issei and Irina and got the hell out of there.
'Did… did we just get saved by a normal human? The Red Dragon Emperor got saved by a normal human, no, not even normal. A human that has even less Magical Energy than most humans have. The Red Dragon Emperor was saved by a magically crippled human being that's one skipped lunch away from being anorexic. Screw it. This life just started and it already doesn't make sense.'
"Heh. Hehehe. Hahahahaha!" Touji started laughing hysterically, half in relief and the other half in pure unadulterated rage. "Get FUCKED Fallen!" He charged at the previous Angel who was still staring in shock at the wielder of the Boosted Gear being an eight year old. He glanced at Touji in shock before leaping to the side to avoid the sword.
He summoned another spear of light in his left hand, this one being far more sturdy than the one in his right.
"The Red Dragon Emperor is an eight year old who can also apparently heal." The Fallen whispered before shaking his head. "Fuck it! If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me! Let's finish this like men!" The lance in his left hand became far more sturdy and glowed with an ominous light. "Know my name Exorcist! I am Meracer the cunning, member of the Grigory, and friend to Zatari, the Fallen Angel you killed last week! And I always WIN!"
He launched himself towards Touji with the two lances in his hands, intent on claiming victory from this battle before the end of his life. Touji met him with equal ferocity.
Meracer used the lance in his left hand and attacked with a sweeping blow. Touji parried and pushed it aside with his blade only for the Fallen to use his wings and momentum from the previous strike to twirl around and attack again. This time Touji was forced to take the blow in full which forced him a meter away from Meracer. To counterattack the man charged towards the Fallen, intent on using the lance's weakness of short range to his advantage. Meracer jabbed with his lance to try and delay Touji but the Exorcist just dodged the blow continued. The Fallen leaped back to try and distance himself but Touji lept in after him, intent on cutting him down.
Instead of panicking Meracer grinned and chucked the bomb towards the trapped civilians, forcing Touji to break away and to try and intercept the blade. In desperation the Exorcist tossed his blade towards the exploding lance, hitting it and forcing the spear to detonate halfway. Touji snarled as he saw Meracer create five more bomb lances and aim it at the multiple groups of civilians, even as he picked up his sword once again. The Fallen launched them one at a time, his goal not to kill the people but to distract Touji. It worked as Touji tried to force himself to chase after one bombing lance and intercept it which caused him to take damage as he couldn't throw away his sword every time. This led him onto trying to intercept more exploding spears and taking even more damage.
Meracer couldn't keep up the assault though. He was only one Fallen Angel and the bombing spear spell took an exhausting amount of magical power. He instead decided to wait in the air and first judge Touji's condition before trying anything else.
Touji was, to be simply put, a complete wreck. Soot decorated more of his face than actual skin, since some of his skin was actually burned off due to the intensity of the explosions. With the damage from the detonations of the spears, and the hole in his gut, Touji wasn't exactly working at full strength. He spat out some blood onto the grass. "Nothing's as bad as a trickster who doesn't care about casualties." He muttered while hatefully glaring at the Fallen who harmed his daughter. "All right now how should I approach this… oh shit, if I win this Irina is going to kill me."
He made up his mind and said the two words that predates every turning point in history, every important event in life.
"Fuck it!"
He charged towards Meracer while the Fallen frowned. "Again? Didn't help the last couple of times..." he muttered. He then grinned ferociously and said, "All right then!" Just in case though he flew farther upwards by about a dozen meters or so.
Seven normal spears of light were conjured into existence above the Fallen Angel and shot out towards Touji. With a swipe of his sword he deflected two of the spears before he stabbed his sword into the ground and grabbed the handle with his hand and use it to push himself upwards into the air and avoid another three of the light weapons. He landed and grabbed his sword out of the ground before lunging into shop to avoid the rest, the wooden doors caving in due to the full strength of an Exorcist being rammed against it.
Meracer frowned. "Why is he cornerning himself in the shop? It's suicide!" All right, if the Exorcist wants to kill himself then he would be happy to oblige. But just in case…
He spent the rest of his magical energy into another, far more powerful exploding spear after he created another light lance, which he held in his left hand, and two more of the common light spears which floated above his head. He carefully took aim with the bombing spear at the center of the shop to do maximum damage to the entire structure.
Meanwhile Touji was scouring through the entire shop in a rush. "C'mon, c'mon! It has to be here somewhere!" He looked up to see a glass case. He grinned. Perfect! He quickly took what was inside of the case out and saw exactly what he needed.
Right before Meracer let loose the spear, Touji jumped through a window in the building and used the ledge to flip himself onto the roof, managing to keep his balance and not slip on the shoddy planks.
Meracer didn't dare let down his ground and shot the exploding spear towards Touji. Touji lept up to meet the bombing spear before slightly dodging it only for the shop to explode behind him. The detonation of the shop only forced him higher into the air and nearer towards the Fallen Angel.
Easy shot! Meracer quickly shot a light spear towards the crowd, knowing that the Exorcist would sacrifice his sword to prevent it from hitting the crowd.
Then the sword was lost and Meracer shot his remaining spear into Touji, killing him instantly.
… Or at least that's how it should have gone. The moment he let his spear loose Touji immediately threw his sword into the spear, far too fast to actually react to the spear realistically.
'Crazy bastard! He took a guess on which the spear I would use to kill the someone in the crowd?! It honestly was a fifty fifty chance but still!'
Something black was extended from Touji towards his sword, though he couldn't tell what it exactly was with the sparks of light from the broken spear dissipating right in front of his eyes and slightly blinding him. Blindly he sent the remaining spear of light fly towards Touji, hopefully accurately though the Angel couldn't see how the human would actually change his position in the air.
When Meracer's blindness was shaken off he was greeted by the sight of the sword somehow coming back towards the Exorcist. Now that he could see clearly he could see what was the black thing connecting the sword and the man.
'A pipe?! He used the extendable pipe of a fire extinguisher to connect the sword to himself by tying it around the wrist?! How is that thing even holding up?!' Meracer thought before seeing a slight glow around the pipe. 'Wait… oh come on! That's one of the most basic spells of an exorcist and fell out of practice nearly three centuries ago! How does he even know that?!'
Prayer of Strength. Unlike what it actually implies, the spell was not used for an increase of strength. Rather it was used by Priests and Exorcists a couple of centuries ago to increase the endurance of an object, usually a weapon, and inject it with such a slight holy aura that even devils could ignore it without that many ramifications. It was removed from the teachings of an Exorcist long ago for the more useful mass-produced holy swords which could actually deal damage against devils and the Fallen. Right now, Touji was using it to increase the strength of the pipe so it doesn't tear itself in half in mid-flight.
The last spear was shearing through the air to reach Touji. Meracer actually had some hope for this one since even if the spear would shatter on impact with the sword, it will still push the Exorcist back a bit and he could allow gravity to do the rest of his work.
The hope died an ugly death as he saw Touji grin. Even while the spear shot through the air to him, rather than blocking with the sword, he grabbed the sword, pulled up his legs, and place the holy artifact underneath his feet even as gravity started to act on him and started pulling him back down to the Earth.
He leapt off the sword to reach the Fallen Angel above him in the air even as he pulled it back towards him with the damnable pipe, the spear grazing his arm rather than just impaling him outright.
Meracer gave a ferocious growl as he swung his lance in a wide arc, his last defense between the Exorcist and him. The servant of the Church who was flying at him, rather than try to defend from the lancer which could rip him in half like he was made of paper, retrieved his sword and used the handle to once again jump from it, the sword shooting back towards the ground.
The pipe started tearing up even while in the air, the Prayer of Strength not being able to stop the deterioration caused from the pipe being used for far more insane stunts than what it was originally designed for. Touji tugged the pipe once again, the sword coming back to his hands before the pipe tore itself in half. Whatever, he didn't need it anymore anyways.
Meracer's lance shot towards him and, rather than block it with his sword, Touji grabbed it midway with his hand even as the light burned him and tore his arm apart. Meracer seemed shocked but before he could let out even a single word Touji let out a primal roar and shoved his sword into the bastard's chest.
The Fallen spat out large amounts of blood even as he swayed and fell through the air. Using Meracer's body as a cushion for his own fall, Touji grabbed the Fallen with his right arm and pressed himself against him. They both slammed into the ground at high speeds and Touji was flung off Meracer, rolling against the ground which aggravated his wounds.
Meracer seemed to be grasping onto the last few seconds of his life with all his might and turned towards Touji. "Ho-ow?" He asked while spitting up blood. It was understandable after all, the lance that Meracer created was far more solid than any normal light spear. Even before that, light spears were deadly and stupidly strong. Any normal one could easily cut through a human, the lance form should have sheared through Touji like Durandal through butter.
Touji didn't respond, couldn't seeing how he was face down on the grass and bleeding far too much to be anything less than lethal. His response wasn't needed though, seeing how the bloody remnants of his left arm was still glowing.
Meracer stared at it before chuckling in his last few breaths, the holy weapon spreading light throughout his body like poison. 'Crazy bastard.' He thought before his breathing ceased. It was understandable.
After all, using Prayer of Strength on yourself was basically suicidal. It degenerated the body at an insane rate, killing yourself within a few minutes as the cells shriveled up and died at an exponential rate, even faster depending on how much magic you put into the spell. However if you cut out the origin of where the spell was casted fast enough you might be able to save yourself. In hindsight, Meracer actually helped Touji by destroying his arm.
"Touji!" Godou shouted as he ran towards his best friend cautiously, in case that… that thing was still alive and attacking them. Seeing that the thing that was killing them all was unresponsive he gathered up his courage and abandoned his caution, sprinting towards his fallen friend. "Touji, what the hell was that?! No don't answer, I'll feel better if I kick your ass when you're healed."
"There-" Touji spit out. "Isn't that much chance of that. Take ca-re of Ir-ina." The both of them knew it, but apparently he was the only one that couldn't refuse the grave reality of what happened. He could feel his body losing blood rapidly. He was probably going to be unconscious and then soon die. At least Irina was alive, thanks to Issei...
"No. Nononono! Don't you dare die on me bastard! You owe me some answers! If you die from that… from that bat from hell I will revive you and kill you again, do you hear me?!" When Touji didn't respond, Godou panicked.
"No! C'mon Touji! Doctor, we need a doctor!" He shouted while desperately searching. The whole field was deserted though, everybody having already fled the scene when the barrier had fell from the death of the wizard bat from hell. His gaze fell upon the two children sleeping on the floor and clambered upwards. He grabbed his son and shook him a bit. "Issei! Issei! C'mon buddy I know you're tired but wake up!"
Issei groggily woke up before his eyes widened in shock at the sight of Touji bleeding.
He tried to sit up and run over to him but he could barely get up. Every muscle felt like it was on fire, every cell felt exhausted.
"The thing you did on Irina? Can you do the same thing on Touji?" Godou asked desperately to his son, never before feeling so helpless in his life. He had to rely on his eight year old son to pull another miracle out of his ass to save his best friend.
"I-I'll try." Issei said groggily. Godou lifted up Issei in his arms before sprinting towards Touji.
"Issei! We're here! Can you do it?" Godou asked seriously. It looked like Issei was about to pass out.
"I will." Issei responded to his dad determinedly, if a bit groggily. Godou placed Issei near Touji, and Issei stared at him in shock and horror for a few seconds. Touji was… broken would be the most respectful word. Accurate words would be: a fucking mess of universal proportions. Burns littered across the man's body, his entire being was coated with blood, his fucking arm was gone, it was just…
"Partner!" The voice within him shouted, snapping him out of his shock. "I don't know about you, but Dragons don't like to have any debts at all. You owe a debt to this man for saving your life from the Fallen now save his life! I told you before, we are the Red Dragon Emperor and all Emperors pay their debts back. Now heal him!"
Issei nodded dumbly and summoned the 'crimson super thing' onto his arm.
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
Issei felt like he was about to pass out. If everything felt exhausted before, now it was getting to the point where it started to severely hurt. Muscles start to tear slightly while bones started developing microfractures.
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
Issei could hear only static buzzing around his head like an irritating fly. His brain started interpreting the scenery differently, making everything look like it was swirling in a kaleidoscope of ever changing colors. Midnight black met with sunshine yellow to form a dark bright white. Nothing made sense.
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
But Issei kept going. He kept going and kept transfering boosts no matter the pain he went through, so much that he couldn't even scream. There was an animalistic instinct in him that wanted to run away from the pain, from all the things hurting him.
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
He kept going. Not because of any reason, sanity had long been tossed out the window and had the fires from hell set on it. But because of pure instinct. While there was an animalistic instinct in him to run from the pain, there was also something else…
[Boost!] [Transfer!] [Boost!] [Transfer!]
"Hoh? Interesting boy. While the instinct of a cowardly animals benefiting prey are brought out by the pain…" It sounded like there was a fierce flapping of wings from… somewhere. The green emerald of the Boosted Gear, which had been glowing, now seemed to fill up with an essence that seemed to come from the primordial power of endless will. "But of course. After all, Sacred Gears are attached to the soul of those who are similar to the divine spirit within. For one to attract the Boosted Gear, they must have something in common with one of the most powerful of all Dragons."
"Yet still, to have the protective instincts of a Dragon for its hoard…" Deep within the Boosted Gear, the chained Dragon which could eradicate planets roared in violent and ecstatic laughter. "To possess a Sub-Species Boosted Gear, capable of healing though at a drastic cost to the injured, while still possessing the boundless pride of the Dragons and the instinctual drive to protect one's hoard and the treasures associated with the jewels deep within, all at such an unfathomable young age… Magnificent! Magnificent New Red Dragon Emperor! Truly there is no better partner in this world for me rather than you! There are still some flaws but with no more than one or two cuts, you, human, no, you, Dragon, just might become a gem which shall be unsurpassed by all that has ever come before and all that shall follow afterwards! Though your wings might be crippled, your footsteps shall still cause the Divine to shudder in unsurpassed fear!"
[Boost!] [Transfer!]
With the final Boost Issei shuddered, having long since been transported to the lands of the unconscious. The animalistic cry within him had long been snuffed out, only to be replaced with instinct far more powerful.
No, this instinct wasn't just powerful.
It was primal.
It was draconic.
Touji seemed to be breathing easier, though just slightly. It was a toss-up of whether he would survive or not. No, he was more likely to live and survive for another day than not but the arm which had long been eradicated would never be seen again, no matter the powers of the Sub-Species Boosted Gear. The top Exorcist Touji Shidou had had his fighting ability cut in half, no, maybe even more all at the hands of a Fallen who had decided to not mess with honor or pride.
No, this injury and near death had come at the behest of a weak Fallen who had decided to use strategy and cruel yet efficient tactics to reap the best of rewards. The Fallen had studied the family of the Exorcist he had planned to kill, found out the love between parent and child, found out the protective and honorable personality of Touji, made sure the Church Servant hadn't had any of his other usual weapons on him, had used a sneak attack to ambush and trap him while being surrounded by easy victims, used variability of personally developed variances of the common light spear…
With tactics, a four-winged Fallen had permanently injured and nearly killed an Exorcist who had gone up against six-winged Fallen Angels on his own and won without any debilitating attacks. An Exorcist that had only survived due to sheer luck to the point where many people wouldn't question if the man was blessed by God and won five lotteries with each granting billions of U.S. dollars.
Insanity was the right word for the events of today, yet it still understated what happened.
All that could be known was that Fate itself would tremble in front of future which had drastically changed.
All right! How was the chapter? I hope it was good. I was stupidly iffy on the fight scene, not sure if I wrote it good enough. If you have any critics on... well, anything then...
Please Review!
This is the Ruler's Haven signing out!